Recently, MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko fought for the second time following his high profile three-fight losing-streak in Strikeforce that led to the now Zuffa-owned promotion cutting ties with arguably its biggest star. Emelianenko fought former Olympian Satoshi Ishii, and would win the bout via first-round KO. But where does Fedor go from here? Much like my recent thoughts on Brock Lesnar, here’s a special piece where I consider the future for one of my favorite fighters.
I would like to get this out of the way right away because you can absolutely not talk about Fedor anymore without at least mentioning this in passing: Fedor Emelianenko will never fight in the UFC. It’s just not going to happen, fans and friends. I’m 100 percent convinced that Emelianenko and the UFC will never reach a deal, they’ve tried too many times and they’ve built up too much bad blood.
At this point, my first reaction to a legit “Fedor Emelianenko to the UFC” news post would be to pinch myself several times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
We can debate the positives and negatives of the situation all we want, in fact I may write just such a piece in the near future. But in the here and now, I’ll simply state that Fedor Emelianenko won’t be heading to the UFC in the few years he has left before he retires.
And yes, I do think that Fedor Emelianenko only has a few years left in him. My official prediction is that Fedor has three years left, tops, before he decides to call it a career. He’s simply getting older, and he’s beginning to slow down. His chin isn’t as good as it once was, his timing isn’t as good as it once was… virtually everything about Fedor isn’t as good as it once.
But you know what? That happens to everybody. I don’t fault Fedor Emelianenko for succumbing to the rigors of age. Last time I checked, none of us were immortal.
So if not the UFC, where? I think the answer to Fedor Emelianenko’s future lies in the past: the immediate past, in fact. In Fedor’s last two fights, he’s fought in Russia and Japan against decent competition, beating them resoundingly. I think that makes the most sense for him and that’ll ensure he fights for the full three years I’ve given him.
In short: Fedor Emelianenko will continue to take bookings all around the world, but he’ll probably stick to Russia and Japan mostly because that’s where everyone knows him and that’s where he’s most comfortable fighting. He won’t fight the best competition out there, but he’ll face competition. And that’ll have to be enough.
Of course, there’s always a possibility that another Affliction or Elite XC or Strikeforce emerges and tries to make a serious run at contending with the UFC. If that happens, I expect that company to use Fedor Emelianenko at least once, just to see if he still has the kind of name recognition necessary to turn a profit.
At the end of the day, I’ll support Fedor Emelianenko no matter what he does, where he goes, or who he ends up fighting. I wish Fedor nothing but the best, and I still consider him one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Oliver Saenz, also known as PdW2kX, is a freelance journalist, opinion columnist, hardcore MMA fan, and lifelong video game nerd. For more news, views, previews, and reviews on all things Mixed Martial Arts as well as video games, be sure to visit FightGamesBlog.net.
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